Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!psuvax1!psuvm!auvm!BROWNVM!ST402711 From: ST402711@BROWNVM.BITNET (Tim Johnson) Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic Subject: Re: More on choir directors Message-ID: Date: 5 Feb 90 22:12:39 GMT Sender: Discussions on all forms of Music Reply-To: Discussions on all forms of Music Lines: 17 Approved: NETNEWS@AUVM Gateway >I wonder if maybe the nature of the music is as fault? `Classical music' >directors are always in pursuit of the classical ideal: trained voices, >vibrato, enounciation, etc etc whatever it is. The idea is always to sound >exactly like the composer meant. Whereas in other stuff like jazz, blues, Well, yes and no. In classical music, there is lots of room for interpretation and expression. However, it has to be guided. Since there are lots of performers, someone has to guide the interpretation - you can't have every person in a choir or orchestra pursuing there own idea of tempo and volume and whathaveyou. Thus the director is the one who gets to establish the interpretation which the performers must follow. So, in a sense, it is the nature of classical music, but not precisely in the way you expressed. Not because there is a formal ideal to be followed exactly, but because there is only room for one interpretation per piece - and that has to be the director's job. -Tim